Endurance

Erika Larsen photographs Sami.

The Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study plans to take a look at how indigenous people in Canada's cities are doing, and where they're heading. As over half the native population of Canada, that might mean something.

Last fall, on the tenth anniversary of the Battle in Seattle, many journalists explored the meaning of the event commemorating the democratic uprising against global privatization. Perhaps unmentioned during this celebration was the 1st Battle in Seattle, otherwise known as the Puget Sound Indian War, which took place between indigenous tribes like the Muckleshoot and white settlers in the 1850s. Since my mother and I were both born in Muckleshoot territory on Seattle's Lake Washington shore, the resurgence of Salish tribal culture and its enduring participation in the fight for freedom from privatization continue to intrigue me.